The Skin She's In
by SpicyDumpling
Summary: COMPLETED! It's the summer before 6th year, and Hermione is spying on Lucius Malfoy in his manor by transfiguring into a cat. Forced to reveal herself, Hermione is also forced to admit the feelings she has for Draco.
1. Chapter 1

Hermione woke up, stretched, and looked over at the person next to her. As usual, it was Draco Malfoy. She edged her way towards him and poked him in the cheek with her cold nose. She did so again and reached up her arm and pawed at him. Draco woke up when she poked him with her nose again. He reached over and scratched behind her ear. "Cat…" he said, yawning. "I suppose you're hungry." Hermione meowed. She got up and stretched properly and licked her nose. Being a cat was so strange. One had the compulsion to do absolutely nothing, but Hermione remembered that she had a job to do. She turned away as Draco changed into some lounging clothes, studying the calendar. She had been here how long now? Nearly three weeks. She hadn't contacted the Order in a few days; they would be waiting to hear from her. 

She heard the bell ring that meant her food was ready. A house elf had brought her some tuna and she meowed a thank you at him as she walked over and began to eat. After all, being a cat was no excuse not to be polite. She was thankful that Draco left his window open so that she could go to the bathroom outside. When she was lucky enough she could go to the bathroom in the manor. Draco had a bathroom in his suite that she could use when he was not around, but this was not often. Sometimes Lucius would turn up at Draco's door, and she would hide under the bed. He would take Draco away and he would come back hours later, tired and bruised. She did the best she could to find out the plans of the Deatheaters, but it was tough. She could climb into the chimney network if she had to, but luckily Lucius' office was below Draco's room where she spent most of her time. 

She finished her breakfast and started to clean herself. Draco had gone to take a bath and get dressed for the day. With her cat ears she could listen to almost any conversation but Lucius did not usually have them in the manor, he usually apparated elsewhere. Hermione had managed to gather that they were planning not to go for Harry, but for Dumbledore this time around. There was a name she had heard, Grimwalde, but she had not yet had the opportunity to tell Lupin. She had also avoided telling them that she was living in Draco's room. Like most rooms in the Malfoy manor it had a fireplace which she could communicate through. She had hidden some floo powder that she used in a jar on the fireplace one day, and it was beginning to run out. She would have to either leave to get supplies or reveal herself to Draco soon. 

She was surprised at how she had warmed to Draco. Draco came back from his father's meetings covered in cuts and bruises, and she would go to him as he crawled, shaking and weak onto his bed. The first time this happened she had not made herself known to him and watched from outside the window as he lay on the bed trying not to move. She felt guilty watching because she did not feel bad, but almost satisfied. She was not happy that he was suffering but she felt better knowing that he had a hard time from someone. His hard time, however, was probably the worst time anyone could have. She knew he was being taken to meet the Deatheaters but he must have been resisting. 

He had come back only three days ago with large bruises on his arms and legs, and cuts all over. He had stripped to his underwear and lain down. He looked like he was trying not to cry and so she had gone to the bed, smelled the fresh blood on him. He didn't want to let her near him but she pressed on, sniffing out the cuts. They were on his back, accompanied by large welts. Shocked as she was, she began to lick the blood from his cuts with her rough tongue. After the cuts on his back she jumped over him and began to clean his chest and finally his face. His face was relatively untouched, but there were still random looking scratches, like he had been cut by a bracken bush. She finished cleaning his cuts and licked his nose.

He smiled despite the pain he was in and lifted his arm and put it on her back. Hermione has been used to sleeping on the bed, the second week at his feet, the third by either his chest or back. She had not been used to being cuddled, though and it was strange. At first she felt like she would suffocate but she realized it was just the strangeness of the cat body and sleeping on her belly. 

She shifted to her side and fell into a deep sleep for a few hours, when she would transform back to her human self, use the floo powder and let the Order know what was going on. When she woke up though she decided that she would go back to sleep and slept until the morning. She had known that the Order members would be upset, but she didn't particularly care. Nearly a week later, however she knew she would have to get in contact with them soon. Lucius would not show up for another couple of days to take Draco away...Lupin told her that they would send a rescue mission if they did not hear from her every third day and she had managed to contact them two days ago but today it would be difficult. It was already eleven o' clock, and Draco would not be going to bed until late in the night. She had to contact the order this evening. 


	2. Chapter 2

Draco walked over from his shower and picked her up, a towel wrapped around his waist. He scratched behind her ears and under her chin and she rubbed against him. Draco was really quite tenderhearted once you realized that he was really just acting under his father's orders. At first, Hermione had come to conclude, it had been genuine. He was jealous of Harry and Hermione, both. Her being muggle born was just an excuse to pick on her. She had found out over her time in the Malfoy manner that Draco was in love with her. He was fighting it and had been for years now. He was angry to start with and had degraded her to make himself feel better, but then he began to mature. When that awful Umbridge woman had come along he had seen his chance to seize power and after that fiasco his father had given him a beating so bad that he could barely get back to his room, his house elf had to help him back. 

It was some time during that one long night, so wracked with pain that Draco had realized that his life…this life wasn't what he wanted. Hermione had found this out, or rather pieced it together, from Draco's murmurings in the night. Sometimes he would relive the beating until Hermione woke him with her cold, wet nose. He would wake up and look at her with those piercing blue eyes and sometimes she felt like he could tell it was her in there. One night he had been sleeping and he had said her name out loud. It was few moments before she worked up the courage to look at him to see if he was awake or not. When she looked, he had turned over, and she resettled herself on the other side of his feet.

Draco set her down and began to get dressed. Hermione looked at his back; the welts had turned red in the hot shower. Hermione went into the bathroom and padded around, jumping up on the sink to look in the mirror. She hadn't seen her human self for days but was still not used to her cat self. She had chosen to be a Siamese cat, sleek and silver. Draco came back into the bathroom, grinning. "You're such a pretty girl, you know that don't you?" He leaned down and kissed her on the head. She pressed her head back to his face, enjoying the attention. There was a sharp knock at the door. 

"Draco," came the voice of the house elf. They both breathed a sigh of relief. "Time for breakfast girl, I'll be back later," he said scratching her behind the ears one last time. She meowed at him and jumped down from the bathroom's marble counter. Maybe now she could contact the Order with little to no risk. She watched him close the door behind him and ran back into the bathroom and transformed. She looked into the mirror at her human face for the first time in days. She touched her face and looked at her own blue eyes. They looked just like her cat transformation's eyes. Could Draco tell? She shook her head and used the bathroom, then hurried to the fireplace.

She reached up into the almost empty jar, she would need to leave soon or get more floo powder. She tossed the powder into the fire and stuck her head in and said quietly "Grimmauld Place." She felt the rushing of many grates go past and began to felt dizzy but was soon calling out of the fireplace for Lupin. "Remus," she whispered desperately, "Remus!" He came over to fireplace with a look of relief on his face. "Hermione, we thought you were…" Hermione shook her head, "There's no time for that Remus I finally have some information. I heard the name Grimwalde." Remus looked serious. "Grindelwalde? But Hermione, he's dead. Dumbledore killed him nearly fifty years ago." Hermione let this sink in for a few moments then replied "Well then maybe they can bring him back like Voldemort made himself a new body, I don't know but it's got Lucius in a good mood, and that can't possibly be good for us." 

Lupin nodded, "Are you ready to come back yet Hermione?" Hermione bit her lip, "No, Remus, I can't. Draco's here, and," she sighed. "And what?" "He comes back here with bruises and cuts Remus, and huge welts. He's changed, Remus, he's on our side, they're trying to beat him into submission." Remus suddenly looked very serious, "Are you sure Hermione?" She nodded, "He relives it in his sleep, it's-" her eyes began to tear up, "it's awful. I have to get him out of here." Remus did not argue, but asked "You must be nearly out of floo powder; I got you a new supply." She felt something being pushed into the grate and put her hands into the tickling flame and took the large bag. 'Thank you Remus. One more thing, it's hard to get to the fireplace every fourth day. I know I left it late this time, can we extend it to seven days and then you'll send someone?" Remus nodded, "As long as you'll be safe Hermione." "I will Remus. How is Harry's auror training going with Moody?" "It's going well Hermione. Harry and the Weasleys send their love, as do I. Be careful Hermione. I'll talk to you in a few days." Hermione pulled her head out of the fireplace and was about to turn herself back into a cat when she realized that she was being watched.


	3. Chapter 3

            Hermione looked into Draco's eyes and calmly but quickly reached for her wand. She cast a full body bind on him and stood up. She rushed to the door, hoping that no one had seen anything. She with some difficulty dragged Draco out of the doorway and shut the door. Then she cast a memory charm on him and unfroze him. He would not remember anything from the last five minutes, and it would take a few seconds for him to shake off the body bind. She then changed back into a cat quickly before he could snap out of it. She breathed a kitty sigh of relief as Draco came out of his trance looking very confused. He looked at the shut door, then down at her. She meowed and began to rub up against his legs, hoping to distract him. It worked; he reached down to pet her and then remembered what he had come back to his room for. 

            He opened his walk-in closet and looked through it until he found his everyday cloak. Hermione watched as he put it on and took the money purse down from the shelf. Where was he going? He looked down at her as her fastened his cloak and put his purse in his pocket. She meowed at him, hoping for some kind of explanatory response. "I'm going out, cat." Helpful, Draco, really helpful. She meowed again, and looked up at him with her big blue cat eyes. "I'm going to Diagon Alley, okay? Is that alright with you?" Hermione pawed at him, jumped to the chest of drawers next to him and climbed onto his shoulder. She wrapped herself around his neck. Good thing I'm a Siamese cat, she thought, other wise I might not fit up here. Draco was very amused and began to chuckle. "Oh you want to come, too? Well I suppose there's no harm in it. But you can't tell anyone where we went."

            She sat still while Draco went over to the fireplace, grabbed some floo powder from his jar and threw it into the fire. Traveling through the grates as a cat was certainly different. She could smell and see so much more than she ever did as a human and she was in two minds about it. Being a cat was so much more to process and she understood so much more by instinct. But as a human she did not have the time to pay attention to all these things, she had too many things to do and too much worrying to do. 

            Draco stepped out of the grate in the Diagon Alley bookshop, Flourish and Blotts. Hermione wondered if he was getting his schoolbooks already, but there was no school for another month, the booklists didn't come until about two weeks before term. So what was he here for? He was walking towards the more philosophical section where Hermione spent most of her birthday money on various creatures' rights books. Funnily, she thought, they had put muggle rights along with the vampires, undead, elves, gnomes, and goblins. It was such a subtle things, yet it screamed at her that muggle-borns weren't even people. This was a store run by a very centrist wizard, very happy to serve all people alike and yet his store had been organized with a very pure-blood attitude. She sighed and Draco reached up to scratch her head, thinking she was perhaps bored. 

            Draco began to look through the sections, stopped in the muggle rights section, and Hermione had to look twice to check where he was pulling books from. She knew that he had begun to hate the way his father treated him but she did not know that he had begun to consider changing his whole attitude towards muggle borns. She was pleased with him and began to purr. He smiled and held up two books to her and asked, "Which do you like, the blue or the red?" Hermione strained her cat mind to remember how to read. The red book was called "The Muggle Rights Struggle in Our Time" and the blue, "Mudblood: The Memoir of a Muggle Born Wizard in a Pure Blood World." Hermione picked the blue book, reaching out to it and Draco put the red one back on the shelf, and then he went to pay for it when Hermione spotted Harry and Moody walking by. She slipped off Draco's shoulder and followed them until they stopped outside of a gadget shop. Draco was still stuck in line and couldn't chase after her, she would go back and find him later. 

            She went up to Harry and meowed loudly. He looked down and smiled. He picked her up and whispered "Meet me in The Leaky Cauldron." She licked him on the those nose and meowed at Moody who smiled. He leaned close to her, pretending to pet her and whispered "That's a very good disguise, Granger. We'll see you in a few minutes."


	4. Chapter 4

            Hermione made her way to the bathroom of The Leaky Cauldron and changed back to her human form. She looked down and realized that while luckily she was wearing clothes, they were very much muggle clothes. She had of course worn muggle clothing to Diagon Alley before but she was now worried she would stand out. She took a moment to collect herself and realized that it was just the unfamiliarity of her human body making her so jumpy. Her first instinct was to be afraid.  She walked out of the stall and looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair had retained some of the cat's healthiness. It was still puffy but it was shinier and much less frizzy. She decided that it must have been the cat food. She let some warm water run into the bowl and washed her face. Surely, Harry and Moody would be here by now. She opened the door, looked around and spotted them sitting at a wayside table. She walked over and Harry stood up and hugged her.

            "Hermione," he said with some relief. "Hi Harry, hello Alastor." Moody smiled and motioned to a chair. "Sit down, Granger. Now tell us in a bit more detail what you've found out." Hermione suddenly felt very guilty, she had not found out very much at all. She spent most of her time with Draco. She cleared her throat and began to explain. "Well, Lucius doesn't talk about very much at home, and he doesn't write anything down either. I did catch him saying something, but I couldn't make it all out." Harry looked at her, "Well?" "Does the name Grindelwalde ring a bell with anyone?" Moody looked very grim all of a sudden. "Granger, Grindelwalde-" "-is the dark wizard that Dumbledore defeated in 1945," Harry cut in. Moody looked at him and Harry smiled, "It's on his chocolate frog card." Moody nodded. "He was the worst dark wizard there has ever been, he was before my time. Voldemort is bad, yes, but not as bad as Grindelwalde. This is very bad news." Hermione's stomach had sunk. She had heard the name before but she had been hoping it was merely someone less powerful. She sighed but Moody pressed on. "What did he say about her? We need to know more." Hermione nodded, "He said something about getting him back. I assumed it was someone in Azkaban." 

            Moody shook his head. "This is not good news, Granger. We need more information and soon. Is there any way that you could go with Lucius? I brought my extra invisibility cloak in case you needed it. You have to be very careful." Hermione smiled, "Don't worry Alastor; your cloak will be fine." Moody shook his head, "No, Hermione, I meant you. Lucius Malfoy would kill you as soon as look at you, and will." Hermione nodded and looked at Harry, who looked very pale. "Hermione, after Ron…you're…please be careful Hermione." She nodded grimly and stood up. Moody handed her a small bag that she slung over her shoulder. She hugged Harry again and promised them she would report within the next week. She wished Harry luck with his auror training and went to the bathroom. In the stall, she changed back into a cat. 

            When she had managed to push the door open she came face to face with Draco, who scooped her up immediately. "That's where you've been you silly cat, I was getting worried." Hermione saw that he had a bag from Flourish and Blotts. She scrambled up his arm and settled herself around his neck. He walked them both to the grate in The Leaky Cauldron, took a handful of floo powder from his pocket, and stepped into the green fire. As soon as they stepped out of hearth in the Malfoy manor, he hid the bag under his bed. He then went and put his cloak away and then went to the bathroom. While he did, Hermione quickly changed back and stowed her bag in the closet. She had just changed back again when Draco came out of the bathroom. "Did you hear something cat?" She looked around and meowed at him. "You're such a smart cat. I know what I should call you." He began to blush pink and Hermione watched him, "I'll call you Hermione. There's a girl at my school called that." 

            Hermione looked at him, waiting. She was not sure what to think as a cat or as a human. She meowed at him experimentally. "Is she as pretty as you? Sorry, cat she's prettier than you." She wanted so much to change back to her human form and kiss him but she could not. She could of course put a memory charm on him but she did not feel right. She felt she was already executing the biggest lie of the century by not revealing her identity, and she felt even worse when she had to erase his memory, it just was not fair. When she was ready to leave, she would reveal herself to him and make him choose. Ultimatums were not her favorite way of delivering choices she had to admit but it was her only choice.

            He looked down at her quite sad. "But I haven't been very kind to her at all. In fact I know she hates me." He put his hand to his cheek, clearly remembering the time that she had slapped him. Hermione had felt guilty afterwards but it hadn't lasted very long. Draco had been an utter prick and he was long overdue a good smack from someone. Hermione did not believe in violence, and when the anger and adrenaline had worn off she had begun to cry. Now looking at Draco she realized that when she struck him was the first and only time that she had touched him. He was clinging onto that memory as his only bodily contact with her and fresh feelings of guilt surged. 

            In her head she knew that he thought he loved her. He had spent no time getting to know her and had no experience of her personality except in class. But she had to admit to herself that her pity was turning into a kind of fondness. His cruelty seemed to have subsided, washed away by the wave paternal violence he was experiencing every week. Tomorrow Draco would be hauled off again with his father to god knew where. She had to prepare herself mentally; she didn't have time to think about feelings. Draco was looking away so she rubbed her head underneath his hand, and he came out of his trance. He smiled at her and picked her up, taking her to his bed. After putting a locking charm on his door (it would alert him in time to hide the book if anyone came to the door) he pulled out his bag with F&B on the side and pulled out both the red and blue books. Hermione meowed at him, and he scratched behind her ears. "I know, I just couldn't decide so I got both." He began to read the blue book and Hermione climbed up next to him and read over his shoulder, pretending to be asleep if he turned around to check on her. Eventually she drifted off into kitty sleep with Draco's warm body next to hers and she was uncharacteristically relaxed when she woke up.

(A/N: I tried to make this chappy a weensy bit longer. I know that this story has not lived up to its R rating as of yet. Quite honestly, I just rate everything R because what is acceptable to me personally is not what is acceptable to most people (I'm quite the hippie). There will be some graphic-ish violence coming up in chapter 5, and maybe a little semi-sexualness a little later on, I am not sure how far I want to go with that. Thanks for reading everyone, Chapter 5 should be up in mid-week at the latest, [I hope].)


	5. Chapter 5

(A/N: It has been pointed out to me by "happydaiz" that it is not The Three Broomsticks in Diagon Alley. "Happydaiz" failed to provide me with the correct name but after a little canon checking I found it is The Leaky Cauldron and have [hopefully] made changes accordingly. If anyone spots this mistake repeated would they please let me know. Also, "kingsdork24" pointed out to me that Hermione has brown eyes, not blue. However, it is my story and the proof of brown eyes is not mentioned until Chamber of Secrets, not to mention in a passing manner, which to me indicates that, well, J.K. does not find this fact mighty ass or canon-shatteringly important. So blue her eyes will remain and as a sticking point I will be bringing it up once every chapter [and at least once in all of my fics forevermore] *grins* Okay, maybe not every chapter….)

It was five o'clock in the afternoon when Hermione opened her eyes. She looked at the clock, and found to her horror that she had been asleep for hours. Worse yet, she couldn't feel Draco's soft shirt on her skin. She lifted up her head to look around. He was not in the room, nor in the bathroom. She could not smell him anywhere, but she did not dare go out and wander the mansion for him. Bloody damn, she thought, where did he go? She got up and began sniffing around the grate to see if he had gone anywhere via the floo network but it did not appear so. As she was looking around, she discovered where he had gone. Through the window she saw a figure on a broomstick. She bounded up to the window and it was indeed Draco. She was not sure what he was doing, he seemed to be circling around, looking for something. She watched him intently for fifteen minutes before he came down and began to head inside. She was hungry she realized and went over to her bowl. On her way there she realized she hadn't been to the bathroom since the morning. She decided that she would go in cat form in case Draco decided to come straight back to his room. She was lucky however; he seemed to be taking his time. She flushed the toilet with a little difficulty, her paws not used to the handle. She then walked out of the bathroom and began to eat the tuna that the house elf had clearly left for her. 

Draco must be eating dinner, she thought at the clock struck quarter after five. Or perhaps he had gone to stow away his quidditch things. She began to pace up and down the room to pass the time, but it did not work very well. She looked at the clock every couple of minutes, waiting until Draco walked back through the door. Perhaps Lucius had taken him early? She did not like the thought of that at all. What if he hadn't been taken away at all, what if he had gone to a friend's house, deserting her? Then, she began to cry. As a cat it came out in wails, high pitched and quavering. Suddenly, she heard someone walking quickly down the hallway and immediately realized how foolish she had been. She scrambled under the bed and waited breathless for whoever it was to open the door. 

"Cat?" Hermione began to breathe again. It was Draco and she came sulking out from under the bed and cried one last time, softly. She had been so utterly, utterly stupid. How could she have endangered herself like that? Over Draco being gone for maybe a couple of days? She felt like such an idiot. Draco shut the door behind him and tried to pick her up, but she shied away from him. "I heard you crying, come here baby," he said softly. Hermione wanted to hide again but she knew that shying any further would be suspicious, so she stayed where she was. An acceptable cat reaction it seemed, as Draco inched forward and carefully scratched under her chin. "Are you hungry?" He looked over at her empty bowl. "No, you're not hungry are you?" He looked at the window and his eyes seemed to light up with understanding. "You just need to go?" He walked over and opened the window, and Hermione followed him but did not jump out. He waited for a few moments and shut the window. "All right, you don't need to go. What do you need?" Hermione could not help but look away from him, ashamed and embarrassed. He looked at her worried, and then it dawned on him and he smiled. "You woke up and I wasn't here, was I? Did you miss me baby?"

If Hermione could have flushed red she could have. She felt like such an idiot and what was worse, she had missed him. Maybe not missed him per sae but she had become uncharacteristically worried about him. She looked back at him but did not otherwise move a muscle. She did not want to touch him at this moment, she did not want to be touched but his hand came to rest upon her back anyway and she was grateful. They sat in silence and Hermione decided that she had no choice. Tomorrow Draco would be hauled off with his father and she could not get there undetected without his help. She was worried about his reaction but she had to risk it. After all she could just erase his memory again. She took a deep breath and transformed herself into her human form.

When she was finished Draco's arm was still on her back and he was looking at her his mouth agape. She whipped out her wand and put a silencing spell on the room, then locked the door. She realized that her eyes were wet from where she had been crying and she wiped them dry with her sleeve. She then turned to look at Draco who was still dumbstruck but had managed to close his mouth. He brushed her cheek with his hand and Hermione felt his arm slip around her waist. He leaned in close to her until their noses touched and he asked, "Cat?" She nodded and wondered why he wasn't angry. Why wasn't he demanding to know what on earth was going on? But now she didn't have time to think, he had begun to kiss her. It was soft and sweet and for a few seconds she did not respond out of pure shock, but once she got over it she kissed back. He pulled away and looked at her, still not fully comprehending. 

"All this time?" he asked frowning slightly. Hermione began to fully feel the guilt that had plagued her in cat form and tears formed in her eyes again. "Bloody hell," she whispered and went to wipe them away, but Draco beat her to it. He was still taking the whole thing extraordinarily well and it scared her. She looked at him, her hand clutching around her wand. "Hermione…" He looked at her hand, sounding almost hurt and she put the wand down. She had enough power to stun him without her wand if need be. Answering his question, she nodded. "I'm here for the Order, Draco. We needed someone to spy on your father." Draco suddenly looked angry and hissed, "So they sent you?! Idiots!" Hermione edged away from him and his expression changed from anger to sympathy. "Please, Hermione, look at me." He turned her cheek with his hand. "I won't hurt you, don't be afraid. I just can't believe they would send you." It was Hermione's turn to be angry now, "Why, because I'm an inept mudblood?" Draco looked at her and his cheeks turned pink again; he looked at the ground. "Please don't say that word." 

Hermione was in no mood though, and her old anger at him welled up inside her. "Mudblood! Mudblood! Mudblood!" She shouted it at him. "You used to call me that and now you can't hear it from me?!" she was still shouting. When she looked at him Draco's head had sunk into his pillow, his shoulders were heaving up and down and Hermione realized that he was crying. She sat, still angry for a moment but when he began to sob she felt the adrenaline drain from her. Draco Malfoy was lying on a bed next to her, a quivering mass. A couple of years ago she thought she would have been happy but instead she felt horrible inside. She did not really know what to say, so she lay next to him and ran her hand up and down his back, shushing him softly until his tears subsided. He only cried for a minute or two but to her it had felt like lifetime. 

He turned over, his eyes red and looked at into her eyes. She stifled her own tears and said, "I'm sorry Draco. That was pure spite." He looked her hard in the eye. "I'm sorry. The way I treated you…I-" He screwed his eyes up again and a tear came falling out. "Shhh, shhh. It's all right." She said, rubbing his arm. Hermione knew it was a blatant lie and so did Draco. "No, it's not, I'm sorry." He reached out and pulled her head to his chest. Apparently he had been harbouring his guilt for some time, Hermione thought. But he did seem genuinely regretful. She gave in and wrapped her arm around his chest. "Draco, please, don't cry anymore. I have something important to tell you." Draco had mostly stopped crying by this time, he wiped his eyes and asked "Is it to do with the Order?" "Yes. I have to go with you tomorrow night, Draco. I need to go with you, the Order needs more information." He looked angry again. "Hermione, no! You can't go with me, I won't let you." She gave him The Look. "I'm going whether you like it or not, I have a mission to complete. I have an invisibility cloak, I will be fine. I will be more fine if you help me." 

Draco considered this, knowing that she would not budge. What were his choices? He gave in. "All right, I'll help you. But…" Hermione waited, but no end to the sentence was forthcoming. "You can come back with me and join the Order. We will protect you, you have inside information that we need." He looked around his room and then back at her. "If I do, I can never come back." Hermione shook her head. "What's here for you Draco? Your self-centered mother and an abusive father? Fancy clothes and food?" Draco nodded. "You're right. When you go there will be nothing left for me here." Despite herself she smiled. "I don't want you to watch Hermione…what they do to me there." Hermione looked sternly at him. "It's my fault that they do it. I know that your father knows how you feel about me, about muggle borns." "I'm asking you Hermione, please-" "I've licked the blood from your wounds Draco. I've mostly figured out what they do to you from that alone." Draco shook his head. "Not this time, Hermione. This time they're…" Afraid to even ask she forced herself to press him, "What are they going to do to you?" He sighed heavily. "They're going to give me the Dark Mark."


	6. Chapter 6

            Hermione looked at him, surprised. "The Dark Mark? Why?" Draco shrugged, "I don't really know. Maybe they think that if they give me the Dark Mark I'll think that there's no way back and give up on everything." Hermione considered this for a moment. "Will you?" He leaned back and took her head in his hands. "Will I what?" Hermione leaned on her arm. "Will you give up?" Draco looked at her, irritated. "No, what kind of question is that?" Hermione shrugged. "I don't know. You can't expect me to trust you." Draco now looked offended. "You've spent the last month living with me, sleeping on my bed and you don't trust me?" Hermione tried to convince herself, "That was different, I was cat. I didn't have to trust you." But she knew that she already trusted him. She didn't really have a choice. Draco nodded, and fell silent. They both withdrew into their own minds for a minute or two. 

            Draco broke the silence first, "What about tonight?" Hermione blinked and asked "Tonight?" Draco nodded, "Yes. Will you sleep on my bed tonight?" Hermione answered the question that had not been asked. "I can't. It's too dangerous with your father here." Draco hesitated and asked, "What if I told you he wasn't here?" Hermione looked at him sternly, "You mean he isn't?" Admittedly she had not smelled him all day, but that only meant that he had not walked down the corridor. Draco shook his head. "No, he and mother left this morning to visit my uncle in Manchester. They won't be back until tomorrow afternoon." The miniature sneakoscope in Hermione's pocket did not go off. 

            Hermione got up and walked towards the bathroom. Draco watched her and she could feel his eyes on her back like she had so many times before. She turned to face him, "I need to take a shower, to think some things over. We'll talk afterwards." Draco nodded. "I'm suddenly very hungry. Do you want anything?" She thought for a moment. "Egg and chip please." He nodded and she shut the bathroom door.  How long Hermione spent in the shower she did not know, but when she stepped out wrapped in a towel there were two plates of egg and chip on a small table by the bed. She guessed she had probably been a half hour in all. Draco was sitting waiting for her. She wrapped the towel more tightly around her and sat down next to him. 

            "Your house elf did a good job. But I didn't hear him come in." Draco smiled softly, "That's because I did all this." Hermione could not hide her surprise. "Even the cooking?" He nodded. She picked up her knife and fork and dipped a chip into the egg and took a bite. She had to admit that it was pretty good. Draco now began to eat but was watching her carefully. "Yes?" she asked. "Is it all right?" he asked. "It's fine, why?" Draco finished his mouthful and replied, "I've never cooked for anyone else before." Hermione continued chowing down and soon she was full. "Do you cook often?" she asked as Draco magicked the plates to the kitchen and the table elsewhere. "When mother and father aren't around I cook for myself and let Rind do as he pleases. There's no point making him cook when it's just me." Hermione was admittedly impressed, but she set her mind to business. 

            "Draco, about tomorrow. I have an invisibility cloak but I am going to need your help." Draco looked at her. "What if I don't help you?" Hermione thought for a minute. "I leave you here, miserable and lonely. And then you can do just as your father wants and join the Death Eaters." She knew this would push his buttons. He did look angry as he considered his choices again. "Hermione, I won't become a Death Eater, even if you leave. In fact I think it would be best for both of us if you did leave." Hermione opened her mouth to reply harshly, but instead she took her time to think her response through. "You don't want me to leave Draco." He smiled. "You're right, I don't. But I don't want you to come tomorrow. It's too dangerous, and not because you're inept," he added quickly at her annoyed look. "These men, they're bad. They're like Dementors, only human. They love pain and suffering. What they do to me is nothing compared to what they would do to you, you're muggle-born." 

            Hermione got up and went to the bathroom again. "What are you doing?" "Getting dressed," she called through the door as she pulled on her jeans and shirt. "Oh." Draco sounded disappointed. Though, Hermione thought, she had taken special care never to see him fully in the nude she had seen quite a lot of him without clothes. She came back out and sat next to him. She took his hand. "I know that they're bad Draco but you have to understand the Order needs more information. And once that you come back with me, the Order is one source less. I need to get the best information I can tomorrow and then you'll get never have to look back. I'm going whether you like it or not, but I do want your help. Please…" Draco sat in silence for a few minutes. "Where will we go?" She sighed, not particularly wanting to tell him in case his father tortured it out of him. But she knew that his devotion to her was a fatal attraction, he would die before he betrayed her. 

            "It's called Grimmauld Place. It used to belong to Sirius Black. As the closest thing to family Sirius had, Harry inherited it when he…passed on." Draco nodded. "We have pictures, mother showed me. My grandmother and Sirius' mother were friends." "Yes, well. When the meeting is over we'll come back here and leave through the floo network." He looked at her disbelievingly. "And that's it? It's just that simple?" She shrugged, "In theory, yes. But you should pack." "Pack what?" She looked around. "Clothes, books, things you will need. And money. It's doubtful your father will be willing to provide you any once you leave." He looked annoyed again and said "I wish I'd known when we'd gone to Diagon Alley, I could have emptied my vault." 

            He said we, she thought. He's been saying we, as if it's already decided in his head. At least Ron isn't around to deal with this. Then she felt guilty. She was thinking like she was glad Ron was dead and she was not. While it did admittedly make the whole Draco situation more bearable, not having to face the look on Ron's face. She missed him. He had died a few weeks after they had visited the ministry's Department of Mysteries. It had been sudden, and according to the healer's in St. Mungo's it was something that the strange brain thing had done to him. They had comforted everyone with that fact that his death while sudden was painless. This was, however, little comfort. She brought herself back to reality and found that he was watching her intently. "What's wrong?" She shook her head, not able to speak and went to his closet, pulling out his Hogwarts trunk. "Just thinking about Ron. Help me pack," she said. She began pulling down his Hogwarts robes from their hangers, fighting back her tears.

            Draco watched her, folding his shirts and laying them in his trunk. "I'm sorry about Ron," he said quietly. She looked at him, and hung his head slightly. "He told the Death Eaters just after it happened." She nodded as she folded his robes and was about to put them in his trunk. She stopped when she noticed the Slytherin crest that had been sewn on carefully by a house elf. She ran her fingers over the silver and green patch, and Draco watched her. "Will you go back to them?" He looked at the patch. "I don't think I can. Probably isn't safe. Can I transfer houses?" Hermione shrugged, "I don't see why not. I'm sure Dumbledore would be happy to have the hat re-sort you." Draco thought for a moment or two, "Can the hat do that?" She shrugged, "People change. Who you were is not who you are now. Did you ask the hat to be in Slytherin?" "Yes. Why?" She smiled, "well you didn't give the hat a choice in the first place did you? I'm sure it will re-sort you." Draco looked comforted at the thought.


	7. Chapter 7

            Hermione looked around the closet. She had packed away both sets of Hogwarts robes. She turned to him, "You pack what else you need. Only what you need. Dumbledore will send your letter to Grimmaulde Place." He nodded, "Okay. What are we going to do with the trunk?" Hermione smiled. "Since your parents are away I can use floo powder without worrying, and not at three in the morning." Draco asked, "We're sending my stuff to Grimmauld Place?" Hermione nodded, "I thought it would be the best idea, in case…well, something happens. You'll be able to get to safety and be prepared when you get there." Draco opened his mouth, feeling obliged to say something. "I'll make sure nothing happens to you, Hermione." She smiled and turned to look at him. "I'll make sure nothing happens to me, too." Draco wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean. Did she think she could handle six Death Eaters by herself? She had managed to become an animagus in a year it seemed, so she was very powerful.

             "How long have you been studying to be an animagus?" he asked her. "Oh," she thought for a moment, "I'd say since second year. I got turned into a half cat and since then I decided it would be a good idea to learn. Of course it was really hard." Draco mused, "Even for you?" She smiled, and shook her head. "Even for me Draco." She sat on his bed as she waited for him to pack his muggle clothes, which he started doing. "I suppose I could teach you, it's very useful." Draco folded up his grey, green, and black v-neck shirts and out them away in his trunk. "Can I choose the animal I transform to?" Hermione nodded, "Yes, you can but you will find one that…I guess…it just feels right." Draco now started to pack away black pants. Hermione got up and went to his chest of drawers, pulling out his underwear and socks by the handfuls. She was tossing them in the trunk. "Are we in a hurry?" he asked, nervous. "Oh, no, but it would be better to get it all out of the way. You still have to empty your account at Gringott's." Draco did need to do that. He finished packing his essentials as did Hermione and they shut the lid. "You go to Gringott's, use the fireplace next door. I'll send this to Grimmauld Place." Draco nodded and walked into the next room. Hermione worried, he was being awfully quiet. She hauled the trunk over to the fireplace and she heard Draco say "Gringott's Wizard Bank" into the fireplace in the next room, and vanish. 

            She pulled a handful of floo powder out of the jar and threw it into the fireplace. "Grimmauld Place," she said fully expecting to see Lupin but Harry's head appeared. "Hermione? It's the middle of the day. Are you okay? Did something go wrong?" She smiled. "Harry, I'm fine. I showed myself to Draco and he's coming back with me. I hope you don't mind." Harry looked taken aback. "I know Snape got a second chance, Hermione, but Draco? Are you sure we'll be safe?" Hermione had expected this and explained to Harry what had been happening to Draco. "And every Thursday night he comes back with cuts and welts all over him. He's suffering for me, for us." She could tell that Harry was having trouble with this, but was willing to take her word. "We'll be coming back tomorrow night." Harry nodded solemnly. "As for now, we packed all his things. Draco's Hogwarts trunk is coming your way." Hermione watched him withdraw his head and put his hands out. She pushed the trunk into the fire and felt Harry catch it on the other end. She pushed it through slowly, it was heavier than it looked. 

            Harry's face, now slightly sweaty, reappeared as Draco walked through the door carrying a small sack of money. She took it from him, and handed it over to Harry. "And that's all the money Draco has, please take care of it. We'll be there late." Harry nodded. "Good luck Hermione."  She nodded, "Thanks Harry. See you tomorrow." He reluctantly withdrew his head, and when she turned around she noticed that Draco had a shopping bag in his hand. "What's that?" He smiled, and handed her the bag. "It's for you." Her brow wrinkled, "For me? But-" He pressed the handle in to her hands. "Yes, for you. Please." Sat on the floor she opened the first wrapped package. It was a pair of black silk pajamas. She looked up at him, not sure what to say. "I didn't want you to have to sleep in your clothes tonight." Hermione did not know what to say to this. Her knee jerk reaction was to be angry. She thought she had settled the matter earlier, but she realized that she hadn't actually answer the question. It would be nice to sleep as a human for once. She would decide when it came time. 

            Draco was holding out his hand, and she realized that she was sitting on the hard, cold floor. She put the pajamas back in the bag and held out her hand. When he pulled her up he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. Hermione could feel her heart pounding in her ears, and she was suddenly and alarmingly out of breath. They were so close that their noses were touching, and she dropped the bag to the floor.  She couldn't help herself, she wanted Draco. When he kissed her she didn't fight it, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer. His lips were sweet and warm and his arms were comforting around her waist. He surprised her by leaning down and picking her up. She hadn't realized that he was so strong. Then again she had never been in physical contact with him to begin with, and he had grown considerably since the first year. He carried her over to the bed and lay her on it. He climbed over her, kissing her as he lay next to her. He propped himself up on his elbow and leant over her. 

            He looked into her eyes and she could tell that he was about to tell her.  She held her breath and waited. He leaned in further and kissed her. He smiled and brushed some hair from her face as he broke the kiss. "I love you."  Hermione couldn't help but ruin the moment. "No, you don't." She smiled. "But you could learn." Draco frowned. "Why do you think that?" Hermione realized she was being too pragmatic about the whole idea of love. She sat up and looked at him. "You don't know me. We've hardly spoken two civilized words to each other for the past six years." Draco saw her point, but it seemed irrelevant. "That doesn't stop me loving you." She sighed. He looked at her for some moments. "Then…You don't love me." The answer she wanted to give would break him inside. "I don't know, Draco. You've been very kind to me. Well, cat-me." He looked away. "But when we kissed just then, I felt it." Hermione could not deny this. "That's why I said you could learn." Draco seemed deflated still. "Could you learn?" She leaned over and kissed him. "I'm getting there."


	8. Chapter 8

            Hermione smiled, but Draco was still looking sulky. Hermione knew that she had upset him. She couldn't lie to herself she was falling in love with him. She should at least tell him. She looked at him. He was laying next to her, looking at the ceiling. She scooted so that she was closer to him and glomped on top of him. It didn't cheer him up.

            "Draco, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." He sighed. "Draco, please. I am, I think, falling in love with you. But we can't rush this, and we have more important things to think about right now. When we leave, when we're back at school we can work on us." He looked at her, his expression softening. He put his hand to her cheek.

            "So soft…You're right. When this is all over we'll work on us." He sat up and began to kiss her again, wrapping his arms around her. It felt so good, to finally have her in his arms, on his bed. Would she share his bed tonight? She seemed annoyed earlier but she hadn't actually answered his question. Perhaps it was that she hadn't decided yet. He resolved to ask again later. He pulled away from her and said,

"You haven't opened your other present yet Hermione." She looked at him.

"Other present?" She looked at the floor. There was another, smaller package wrapped in paper next to the bag. She looked at him quizzically, and he slid off her, watching her walk to the package on the floor. She picked it up and pulled off the paper. Inside the paper there was a black velvety box. 

"Draco? What is it?" He merely smiled and waited. She opened it.

"Draco…I can't accept this, you need the money too badly." Hermione pulled out a silver ring with a small blue stone set in it. 

"It's worth far more than money. One of my relatives gave it to me, a second cousin of mine, I think. Her name was Andromeda; I didn't see much of her except when I was very little. She told me to save it and give it someone that I really loved." He smiled at her. Hermione, however, was frowning softly.

"Andromeda? She was one of Sirius' cousins…Harry told me that your family and the Blacks were related," she added watching the question pass through Draco's head. She smiled and slipped in onto her right ring finger and admired it.

"Are you sure you want to give this to me Draco? I mean, It's worth so much to you."

"It's a promise ring. It's a symbol of my promise to make you as happy as I can." Hermione wanted to ask him so many cynical questions but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Maybe it would work, maybe not. There was no sense in not trying though, because you can't prove a negative. She sighed, and looked at the clock. It was about three in the afternoon and everything seemed to be taken care of. Draco's money was well kept, as well as his clothes and books. She was alone, with Draco Malfoy in his family mansion. Suddenly the door opened a crack, and shut. Hermione looked over at Draco, who had his hand on his wand. It must have been the house elf, it must have been. But what had he been doing? Then the door burst open and Lucius Malfoy was standing in the doorway. Hermione cursed loudly, and pulled her wand out from her pocket. Draco stood in front of her, his arm thrust out in protection. 

"Draco, what have I told you about playing with mudbloods?" Lucius asked coldly. Draco's eyes narrowed, and he did not answer.

"What have I told you!" Draco shifted in his place.

"What you told me was bullshit!" He was beginning to flush pink. Within seconds Draco was contorting with pain. Lucius had use the Cruciatus curse on him, and he was fighting it well. He was leaning over, but he had not fallen. Hermione quickly used a disarming spell, any spell, and she succeeded in distracting Lucius, giving Draco some time to recover.

"Hermione, no-"

"Be quiet!" Lucius ordered. "So this is the mudblood my son throws everything away for? What's so special about you anyway? Are you especially pain resistant perhaps?" 

            He turned to her and performed the curse. It was a blinding pain. Later Hermione would confide in Harry that it was like being hit by a train from every angle, the light, the sound, the physical pains all bore down on her and she wanted to die. The one thing she wanted most in the world was to die, she wanted the bright light to fade and the feeling of every particle being stretched and squashed at the same time. She had heard of something called the bends, a condition scuba divers can get. This was a hundred times worse. 

            She was ready to let go when she saw something small and blue flashing, and she could feel her hand, then her arm and soon her chest. Her whole body was free from the curse, and though she was weakened she no longer felt like dying. Draco was attacking his father with the Cruciatus curse back, but it was not having very much effect. Hermione thought grimly that Lucius was probably quite used to the curse from a much more powerful caster. Hermione struggled onto her feet and put in her own Cruciatus. She knew it was illegal, and she didn't care. She wanted Lucius to feel the pain he had caused Draco for loving her, the pain that he had just caused him. She was furious and nothing was going to stop her from making him suffer as much as possible. 

            Except, Draco had lain a hand on her and was shaking her. She could hear his voice from somewhere far away, he was calling her name. She looked down  and saw Lucius laying at her feet, blood running out of his nose. She felt like being sick. She knew just from looking at him that he was dead, stone cold, dead. She looked at the wand in her hand. Had she done it? Was the Cruciatus curse fatal? No..it wasn't…but if it wasn't her it was…Draco? She turned to look at him. He was standing next to her, his arm slipped around her waist to keep her standing up. But he wasn't looking at her, or even at his father. He was looking at his mother who was standing in the doorway, a bloody statue at her feet.


	9. Chapter 9

           Narcissa stood in the doorway, her chest heaving. She did not look triumphant or angry, but as sick as Hermione felt. There was blood covering her hands and she looked at Draco, trembling.

"Mother?" he asked carefully, and as he reached out for her she burst into dry sobs.

"I…I couldn't let it go on." 

            Hermione then noticed the bruises on Narcissa's arms, throat, and the fading black eye once covered by make up, no smudged and running. Hermione's heart felt with sympathy and she understood that she had been at Lucius' mercy too, and had finally been pushed over the edge. She watched Narcissa fall to her knees, sobbing over her husband's body. Draco looked at her and they both helped lead her to Draco's bed. 

Hermione decided to go and get Narcissa a glass of water to help her calm down. When she handed it to Narcissa their fingers brushed, and her finger was smudged with Lucius' blood. She looked around for something to wipe it off, but there was nothing. She went silently to the bathroom, listening to Narcissa cry in the next room she looked in the mirror and down at her bloody hand. She let the water run a bit before she remembered to rinse the blood away. She realized that she was in shock and washed her face. When she walked out Narcissa had stopped sobbing and was looking worried.

"They'll come after me, they're going to come and kill me…" Draco looked up at Hermione.

"You'll talk to Dumbledore, won't you Hermione? She was protecting us, they can't-"

"Not the Ministry, the…him…" Draco looked at Hermione again.

"Dumbledore will hide you from the Death Eaters, won't he?" Draco was looking at her pleadingly. Dumbledore? It was self defense, after all. She was sure he would.

"I'm sure he will," she tries to smile comfortingly. She had no idea what to do. Dumbledore…yes, she would get him. She walked to the fireplace, took a handful, and threw it into the fire.

"Dumbledore's office," she commanded. "Professor Dumbledore? Professor Dumbledore!" She called his name until he appeared. 

"Is everything all right Miss Granger?" He appeared concerned.

"You need to come Professor. Something rather serious has happened."

"Very well, please stand back." 

            Hermione did so and a moment later Dumbledore stepped out of the fire and into Draco's room. He looked over at Lucius' body, then over at Draco and his mother. She looked up at him through mascara-streaked eyes.

"Dumbledore? I…please help me."

"It is all right Narcissa. I see that Lucius was obviously intent on harming you and these children. It is clear to me that anything you might have done was in self defense or to protect Draco and Hermione." Mother and son breathed sighs of relief. Draco looked at  Dumbledore.

"Sir?"

"Yes Mr. Malfoy?"

"Sir, the Death Eaters will be after us both once they find out about father."

"I am resolved to protect you both from anything that may come upon you. Voldemort will have an idea of what has happened soon but he will have to send someone to be sure. So, we must leave as soon as we can. Miss Granger, Mister Malfoy?" They both looked at him, ready to do whatever he asked. 

"Mister Malfoy, please retrieve two suitcases from wherever they may be. Miss Granger, pack Narcissa some clothes, and Mister Malfoy, and obvious valuables. We may have time to return later, but perhaps not. Pack anything of substantial value." 

            They both nodded and Draco led the way to his parents' bedroom. Draco caught her hand, and she began to feel human again at the touch of his warm hand. He opened a cupboard and pulled down two suitcases. Hermione opened the largest and began to pick out the best of Narcissa's clothing. Draco strode over to a chest of drawers and looked disgusted. He began to pull out fists of jewelry boxes and tossed them into his open suitcase.

"Shouldn't you be more careful with those?" Hermione asked as she folded up black shirt after black shirt.

"Why? They're all covered in blood anyway…" She watched him pile silver, gold, diamonds and jade into the suitcase disgustedly. 

"That's not your fault," she replied, packing black cloaks and some trousers. She pulled open drawers and began to pile underwear into the suitcase. She was done and began to look around. What else would she need? Her make up, her hair things. She passed Draco and pulled open a chest of drawers. She picked up the basics of a make up kit, and a few hairbrushes, combs, and clips. She put them in the trunk with the jewelry, which looked to be enough to buy a small country. 

"Is there anything else she might need?" 

"I don't know. Dumbldore did say we might be able to come back, and we have the basics." Draco seemed far away. She touched his hand and he looked at her intensely, seemingly searching her face for some kind of answer to an unasked question.

"What is it Draco?"

"How can you think about loving me? I'm a monster…" Ah, so that was what was bothering him, she thought.

"No you aren't, you're different."

"Did you see him? And her! I'm a child of monsters."

"Your mother did what she had to do. She saved my life, and I can't fault her for that."

"All right, but what about my father?"

"He was doing what he thought was right. I'm not saying he was right, just that he thought he was."

"Only what was best for him." This, Hermione had to concede, was true. Many a great man who claimed to work for the greater good worked their own good foremost. She sighed and replied,

"It doesn't matter to me. You aren't your father. Look at me." Draco had turned away and he now looked back at her.

"It was a long time ago. We hurt each other, but we're different now. It's different now and I don't care about what happened back then."

"It wasn't that long ago," he replied sulkily. 

"It's long enough. God, do you want to be miserable?"

"Of course I don't!"

"Then forget about it. It's okay now." Hermione put the lid down on her suitcase and locked the clips with a snap. She smiled at him and he circled his arms around her, kissing her softly. She let herself get wrapped up in his warm arms, and his strong yet gentle grip. She could stay in this moment forever, except that they had to get out of here soon. Dumbledore was waiting for them down the hall, and this wasn't over yet.


	10. Chapter 10

Hermione unwrapped herself from Draco and grabbed the suitcase of clothes. Draco grabbed the other suitcase which clinked as all the jewelry shifted into the bottom. With Lucius dead, Hermione wondered, how long did they have? Was there some kind of reverse effect from the Dark Mark? Perhaps Voldemort would know...but Dumbledore was here with them. Of course, Dumbledore was exactly who Voldemort was after...even so Lucius had become less and less useful, which was one of the reasons they were after Draco. They arrived back in Draco's room to find Narcissa stepping into the fire, presumably to Grimmauld place. She looked slightly comforted and even managed to smile as she looked at Hermione. She disappeared into the fireplace and Dumbledore seemed to be waiting for something.

"Yes, Professor?"

"I think at a time like this you may refer to me by my first name."

"Albus...Is there anything else?"

"You two should go first, to Grimmauld Place. I will remain here in case...anyone should appear." Hermione nodded and smiled...this hell was almost over. Then again, so was the heaven.

Draco took her hand and they stepped through the grate and into the swirling green nebula that was the floo network. They emerged on the other side to see Lupin waiting for them, hands open to take the suitcases. His eyes strayed to their intertwined fingers, and he said.  
"Harry's waiting for you upstairs." He smiled softly and went into the kitchen to see to Narcissa. She was sitting in the kitchen with what looked like a large mug of tea. She saw Lupin take her hand, and smiled. Maybe now, Remus wouldn't be so alone and nor would Narcissa.

She exchanged glances with Draco, who was watching the scene with interest. She knew what he was thinking. All those times that he had made fun of Lupin, now it looked like he may be replacing Lucius as Draco's father figure. And what an improvement it would be.

She tugged on Draco's hand and led him towards the stairs. Finally that beastly paining had gone. Once Sirius had passed on, the old woman seemed to have lost her fervor and she had vanished from the painting. She had, it seemed, existed only to torment Sirius as he had always hinted. One day, perhaps she would tell Draco about Sirius, and about his mother. Had Narcissa played here in here childhood? The way Sirius talked it was probable, even likely. Had Draco been here once Sirius had been expelled?

"Where did her painting go?" Draco asked quietly. So, he had been here, and he remembered. Which room had he slept in? Had he slept in the same bed as Harry? As Ron? As Sirius? Or even herself?

"She...went away once Sirius passed on. If that's what he did."

"My father said he was gone forever. He was Harry's godfather...Does he know?"

"About Sirius being his godfather?"

"No, that he can't come back." Draco looked at the floor, or rather at the stairs. They had stopped in the middle of the flight of stairs, both staring at the lightened patch where the painting had hung. Hermione broke the silence.

"Harry and I, we haven't had a lot of time to talk. We've all been hoping, deep down that he could come back. We've never found..." She wiped a tear from her eye, and took a deep breath. "We never found his body. I think we've all accepted that he's gone. The important thing is that his name is cleared. I know it is for Harry as well."

"Will it happen to me, Hermione? Will I be branded like he was, simply for his family name?"

"You're related to Ron, you know."

"By marriage, in a very estranged way. That annoyed father immensely."

"The Weasleys aren't branded the same way as the Blacks. I think that you can be cleared two. I doubt Dumbledore will allow a spectacle trial. But, it will be known that your mother killed him. You will be the son of a manipulative maniac. Oh, how Rita will love it when she finds out..."

"But everyone knows...everyone knows what my father was. What he did, he went to Azkaban for weeks, until he broke out." Hermione smiled.

"No, about us. First it was Harry and Viktor, now it will be the...well. Harry's waiting. He won't be ready for this yet." She let go of his hand and he looked disappointed but nodded resolutely.

"You go first. I'm not the one he'll really want to see."

"Do you want to wait in the hall?"

"No...show me where you sleep, I'll wait there." Hermione pointed her room out. It was across from Sirius' and Harry's was just down the way. She took another deep breath and rapped on the door. Harry opened it immediately. He was looking more gaunt than usual, like he had been when he had first come to Hogwarts. He also looked more pale than usual. Books piled around his room, she supposed he had been practicing defensive magic, and reading up on everything and everyone Voldemort.

"Harry."

"Hermione?" He put his arms around her and she hugged him tightly. "I didn't know whether you would come back. You hadn't been in touch, but then you showed up in the fire. And now, Draco's mum is downstairs..." Hermione nodded. "And Draco, he came too?"

"Yes, he's in my room. He didn't think you would want to see him." Harry looked bewildered.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"I guess he just didn't think you wanted to see your worst enemy."

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend." They both turned to see Draco in the doorway. He walked in and offered his hand to Harry.

"I'm sorry about Sirius." Harry nodded. "I'm sorry about a lot of things. So many things that I don't think I can list them all." Harry nodded, studying Draco.

"I understand." Draco's hand slid into Hermione's.

"I want you to know Harry, that I'll treat Hermione right from now on." Harry nodded again.

"Harry?" Hermione asked, "Are you all right with this?"

"I trust you, Hermione. And I trust Draco. We've lost Sirius, but we have two more Blacks back with us now. He would have been proud." Hermione broke the silence again. She felt like she was always the one doing it, but it had to be done.

"I think we all need some tea."

"I'll make it," both Draco and Harry. Then Harry did something Hermione hadn't seen in months. He smiled. She knew it would take a lot of getting used to for the Order, having Draco around. She knew that this would be a long, hard fight, and there would be losses on both sides. But something about seeing the boys together gave her hope. One blonde, one dark, one Slytherin, one Gryffindor. Both princes who had suffered at the hands of Voldemort. Somehow, looking at them smiling at her, she knew that they would win.

Dedication: First and foremost to the Draco to my Hermione. Secondly, to everyone who has read/commented/passed on this fic. I hope you guys like this.

A/N: This was tough to end. I want to thank everyone who has waited so patiently for me to finish this, everyone who has read this, left me a comment, or passed this on to their friends (and/or sisters). I do hope you all continue to read what I write, and I am intending to finish up everything else I started and didn't finish yet.


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